Trial X6

Stripes

  Standing next to Max at Jam Pony, I was watching my coworkers come and go on foot or bike as they delivered packages. Today wasn't as busy as usual, so it was fairly quiet and slow.

  "Here you go, boss. One hot run delivered to Fifth and Maple, in a timely and courteous fashion, by yours truly." Alec said while holding up a piece of paper.

  "That's my rockstar." Normal said while cutting papers.

  "Are you kidding me?" Max's voice was high-pitched as she spoke. "One package? That's it? All day?"

  "Quality, not quantity, Max."

  "That's what all men tell themselves to sleep better at night." Original Cindy popped off, and Alec made a face while looking nowhere in particular. Sketchy came to a squeaking halt in front of me on his bike, holding a tabloid in one of his hands.

  "You're looking at the newest reporter for America's fastest-growing magazine." He said with a smile as he held up the paper. The front cover had a picture of a mutant, the headline being MUTANT SIGHTINGS ON THE RISE! in bold, yellow letters. I narrowed my eyes slightly, not really paying attention to what Normal was saying anymore.

  Crossing my arms, I felt as if I was forgetting something.... But what?

  "....hunt down mutants in my spare time and immortalize their horrible, deformed faces for tabloid posterity." Sketchy's voice brought me back out of my head as I stared at him with a blank expression.

  "That's just....great." Max said with slight sarcasm.

  "Yeah." Sketchy grinned, not catching it at all.

  "Except, there are no mutants." Original Cindy looked at Sketchy. "And that rag is full of lies."

  "Wait until I get my first exclusive," He paused. "in the meantime, everybody, drinks on me at Crash!" He raised the paper, and a cheer went up. When he walked away with his bike, Original Cindy followed. Max, Alec, and I walked away from Normal to stand by the bike rack.

  "This is not good." Max turned to Alec.

  "No, no, I'm just as worried about exposure as you are."

  "I'd believe that if you covered up your barcode better, 'Monty Cora'."

  "Look, I seriously doubt White and his, uh, merry band of transgenic hunters get their tips from News World Weekly. Besides, this is Sketchy we're talking about. What are the chances he stumbles across an actual Manticore lung that was stupid enough to let him snap a shot?" Alec said just before Sketchy came up.

"Hey, guys!" Max and Alec turned towards him as I quickly looked away. 'Shit!' I thought as the flash went off. He smiled while walking out of Jam Pony with his camera.

  "You were saying?" Max was making a face, and so was Alec. I, on the other hand, was trying to regain sight from being blinded by the camera's flash even though I hadn't looked at it directly. If the flash was that bright, I knew if I had been looking up, Sketchy would have seen my tapetum lucidum in the photo.

  I'd have to be careful around Sketchy and his camera.

~

  The hot water soothed my muscles as it pelted against my back. Leaning my head back towards the showerhead, I ran my fingers through my hair as I rinsed out the soap. I felt the suds run down my back, and my ear twitched, flicking water at the wall. Steam already filled the room, and in my own opinion, this shower was much better than being hosed down at Manticore.

  When the soap was out of my hair, I turned my upper half to rinse off my tail. Because I had to keep it hidden in my pants all the time, my tail would get cramps from time to time, but hot showers seemed to help. Leaning over to turn off the water, I slicked my hair back.

  Getting out of the shower, I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my waist. My tail shook back and forth, flinging droplets of water everywhere. Grabbing another towel, I dropped it on my head and began to dry my hair while walking to the bathroom sink. After a quick glance around the counter, I saw that I had forgotten my clothes in the living room.

  "Tch." I clicked my tongue while scrunching up my nose. I had left my clothes in my bag that was currently sitting in the living room. The very not warm living room. Going to the door and grabbing the handle, I opened the door while still drying my hair. Walking out, the cool air nipped at my bare skin, and my nose twitched as I pulled the towel off my eyes.

  "What the Hell are you doing in my apartment?" Alec questioned while looking as if he was about to drop his keys on the table.

  "You have a nice shower." I muttered, and he just raised his eyebrows at me.

  "How'd you even get in? Everything was locked." He started taking off his jacket, dropping it on the armrest of the couch.

"Wouldn't you like to know? I was made to be unseen and unheard, you think a puny lock and deadbolt can stop me?" I began to dry my hair again, rubbing the towel against my head and my ears. Alec's eyes wandered down.

  "So, the stripes are there, too?" One brow raised as his head tilted to the side. Glancing down, I looked at my chest.

  "Yeah, a few of them go from spine to sternum." Shrugging while walking to his kitchen, I opened up his refrigerator. Grabbing a beer, I pulled off the cap and tossed it into the nearly overflowing trashcan.

  "So that's where they've been going." Alec narrowed his eyes while pointing at me as I raised the bottle with a toothy grin.

  "And you had no clue." He rolled his eyes while plopping down on the couch. "Also, you were supposed to still be at Crash."

  "I can't come to my own home when I want to?"

  "Shut up, dick, that's not what I was saying." I took a drink from the bottle in my hand while walking back into the living room. "I just meant that you usually stay at Crash until it's morning."

  "Not unless I meet a nice lady friend who wants to have a playdate." Alec grinned.

  "A playdate? And I'm the one getting called a child?" I rolled my eyes and took another drink.

  "No, not a real playdate, I meant-"

  "I know what you meant, dumbass." I started to dig through my bag that lay lopsided in a chair. I heard the male transgenic clear his throat.

  "I forgot you had a tail."

  "I forgot you had no brain." I said while pulling my clothes out of the bag. Taking one last drink of the beer, I set the bottle on the table before I went back to the bathroom to get dressed. Glancing in the mirror, I saw the stripes that touched my sternum. A set rounded up from beneath my breasts and another set went along my collarbone. At the bottom of my ribs, I had two stripes one on each side that peeked onto my stomach.

  "Huh," I narrowed my eyes while lifting the towel off my head. "that gunshot didn't scar.... Too bad. Would have looked awesome." I mumbled before getting dressed. Coming back out of the bathroom, I saw Alec resting on his couch while watching TV.

  "Stay out of my bathroom from now on- my apartment too." He switched the channel.

  "Sorry, dick, no guarantees. You have a nice shower." Slipping my tail into my pants, I grabbed my bag as I left and threw away the beer bottle.